Chapter 2494: Ahalya Johnson’s Tragic Life

Date: Unspecified

Time: Unspecified

Location: Myriad Realms, Card World, Central Region, Central Academic City, Morningstar University District, Morningstar University Campus, Garden of Beginning

"You have to let me go with her. I can help her," Ahalya begged. Despite her protests, she was dragged away by demigods while her master headed into the temporal river of the Card World connecting its past, present, and future. "I’m not conspiring about anything. I just want to help her."

Going into the past was like going against the temporal current, one of the easiest ways for one to die unless you have an adequate mastery of time rule and its relevant meanings. Like in the case of Lucine, and there were some special cases like Ahalya, whose powerful trait or physique allows them to achieve miracles.

Dean Faust wasn’t worried that his young guest had perished under the force of the temporal currents, because they all had witnessed his fight against the Worldhog Devil rocking a mohawk and knew for a fact that his mastery over time rule was enough to put many veteran and elite card demigods to shame.

"Student Ahalya, don’t take my words to your heart. I was just too desperate to stop you from following your master into the time river. I know what happened back then was not your fault. It was a one time freak accident, beyond your or anyone’s control. I’m sorry you had to go through that and be burdened with the consequences that followed all alone," the demigod who blamed Ahalya of conspiring to kill Lucine in temporal river apologized, seeing that Lucine had entered the temporal river and the temporal crack by the time vestige was being guarded by the Dean Faust himself.

"Thank you, sir. But I was never alone, my master was always by my side. Not to mention, it was nothing compared to what Master lost that day," Ahalya said, recalling the price her master paid to save her from the temporal river.

The Demigod and his colleagues sighed, listening to Ahalya. They shared the immediate and deep-seated feeling that Ahalya was blaming herself for Lucine being afflicted with Time Rule Dementia. However, none attempted to console her, knowing a thing or two about self-blame and the subsequent drive for self-redemption. There was nothing they could say to her that would change the way she felt about herself.

Back when Ahalya was about to graduate and had slowly accustomed to her new life and identity, an accident happened as she visited the time vestige to take the readings of the temporal crack in space that made the formation of the time vestige in the physical plane possible.

A stray wave of temporal force dragged Ahalya into the temporal river. Her master, Lucine Morgenstren, jumped right behind to rescue her beloved disciple without any hesitation. Combined with Ahalya’s taintless trait and Lucine’s mastery of time and space rules, the rescue was successful. Ahalya, despite being thrown in the time river, was unharmed, while demigod Lucine was afflicted with a deadly disease that made even mortals pity her.

Things were never the same in Ahalya’s new life since then. While Lucine brushed off her condition as a price to secure her beloved disciple’s life, the rest of Morningstar University felt differently, they blamed Ahalya for the accident and Lucine’s condition, which kept getting worse day by day, forcing her to cancel all her outside appearances and hide in the university campus.

That day, Ahalya felt like the world was playing a cosmic joke on her. Just when she had forgiven and accepted her master and Morningstar University for forcing her mother to sell her to them instead of lending her a helping hand to protect her from the Circle, life threw a curveball at her. Now, Morningstar University hated her, and she was in the stand defending herself to them, but at least her master was on her side unconditionally.

Because of such complications and Ahalya’s personal choices, Chief Denise Johnson and the world perceived that she was leading a tough life at Morningstar University. The attitude of staff and students who believed Ahalya was to blame for the misfortune that befell Ma’am Lucine only made matters worse.

Despite being considered the princess of Morningstar University by many staff and students of Morningstar University, card apprentices across the five regions either had no idea who she was, and those who had heard of her used her as an example of the top ten universities’ elitist practices.

The secrecy surrounding her origin and admission process didn’t help, it only added fuel to the already blazing fire. There were nasty rumors like Morningstar University killing or holding Ahalya’s entire family hostage to get her to admit into their university. Card apprentices believed Morningstar University fancied Ahalya’s powerful trait but hated her tragic and humble origin, leading to her tough life in the Morningstar University.

The fact that neither Morningstar University or Ahalya came out to clear these rumors only added legitimacy to them. The culprits behind this mess were the factions within Morningstar University. They were willing to go to any lengths to consolidate their power in Morningstar University.

Ahalya, the disciple of the only remaining descendant of the founder of Morningstar University, was a huge variable in their struggle for power. Though they couldn’t directly harm her, there were always other and more subtle ways to keep her in check and achieve what they wanted. For example, influencing public opinion has been a trend since the beginning of‌ civilization. Not only was it versatile, but you could employ it from within the comfort of the shadows.

...

Entering the temporal river through the temporal crack, Lucine carefully and seamlessly controlled her time and space rule power to go against the time current, into the past that was connected with their present by the time tunnel. Unlike the boy she didn’t have the aid of the temporal and spatial forces being released during the formation of the time tunnel, she had to navigate to that point in time herself. Traces of the time tunnel were still fresh, so she wasn’t that worried about getting lost. It would be long before she joined the young man at that point in the time river. Hopefully, he was still there and didn’t just wander around.

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